Bowling pin hardening apparatus



July 31 95`l H. E. MCKENZIE BOWLING PIN HARDENING'APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. l5, "i945 July 3l, 195l H. E. MCKENZIE BOWLING PIN HARDENING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 13, 1945 `2 Sheets- Sheet 2 www Patented July 31, 1951 BOWLING PIN HARDENING APPARATUS Herman E. McKenzie, Big Bay, Mich., assignor to The Brunswick-Balke-'Collender" Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware f- Application November 13, 1.945, :seral'NQezaioe The present invention relates to a novel apparatusvand method for hardening bowling pins and particularly for hardening the end and belly yportion of a wooden bowling pin.

Pins used in bowling are naturally subject to considerable forces resulting from being struck by the bowling balls and from being struck by other pins which have in turn been struck by the balls. The balls for the most part strike the pins kat'their widest portion, known as the be1ly, and the pins in turn are propelled by the balls in such manner that either their base or belly portions-Will usually strike the belly portions of the adjacent pins. Bowling balls are, of course, thrown with considerable force and the impact of the ball hitting a pin and of the pin hitting the other pins is very great and, unless the two parts which are most frequently subjected to suchv impacts are very hard and tough, the life of a bowling pin is short.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a novel apparatus for and method of Ahardening the belly portion and base of the pins. The present invention comprises an apparatusinto which the pins, usually ofk maple, and made slightly wider at the belly and longer at y the base than the regulation or desired width and length, are placed; The pins are subjected to high temperatures and then forced along la tube which ,tapers to a diameter less than that of .thel :belly portion of the pin as originally formed. The pins are preferably then moved'to another compartment where the compression continues but where heat is no longer applied so as to maintain and set the new contour and diameter produced by the heat and pressure, and then the pins are transferred to a cooling chamber from which they are manually removed and placed base down in a heated die, the base at that time being slightly greater than the die in which the pins are placed. A plunger, ram, or the like is directed against the top of the pin to force the base into the die where the base is compressed and hardened thereby.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. la and Fig. 1b together comprise a side elevational view of the device for hardening the belly portions of the pins.

Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b comprise a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 4.

3 Claims. (Cl.'144-2) v 2 f Fig. 4 is van venlarged sectional view taken on the line"4;4 of Fig. 2a.

Fig.' 5fis a'fragmentary sectional view of the bas hardening' device.

Fig. `(ifis a top plan view of the die shown in Fig'. 5.l `f

While theinvention is here shown and will hereinafter be described in a preferred embodiment, itis not intended that the invention is to be limited thereby to the specific construction disclosed. On the contrary it is intended to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as' defined bythe appended claims; In theernbodiment of the invention disclosed in the drawings, IIJ represents an elongated cabi# net or apparatus comprised of a plurality of plates Ia--If, inclusive, connected together by rods Illg and mounted on a base 10h and provided at one end with a hydraulic, double acting cylinder `-II of well known 'type provided with a rod or ram I 2. I The balance of the device is dividedy'into anumbe'r of chambers I3, I4, I5, I6 and Il; The chamber I3 isopen at the top and contains4v one end of a tube I8 which extends from chamber I3 to and through chamber I1. In chambers I3 and I4 this tube is of substantially the same diameter as that of the initial formor blank 'of the :bowling pin blank I9, the' tube however bein'gopen at the topin chamber I3 to rev ceivefth'e'4 bowling pin'through the opening in the top offthe chamber. `Thediameter of the' tube remains thesame in chamber I4 but in chamber I5 the tube tapers in the manner shown by dotted lines 20 in Fig. 4 (the dotted lines being shown in chamber I4 for clarity), and remains of the same diameter throughout the succeeding chambers. The chambers I4 and I5 are provided with electrical heating elements 2I and 22 connected to a suitable source of electricity and adapted by means of a suitable thermostat to maintain the temperature in the chamber between 320 F. and 350 F. Insulation 23 of suitable material provides side walls for the chambers I4-I6, inclusive. No heating means is used in chamber IB but chamber Il is provided with cooling coils 24 adapted to receive any well known cooling material, such as water, brine, or the like. The end of the machine, on the right as viewed in Fig. 1b and Fig. 2b, is provided with a suitable spring pressed closure (not shown) through which the pins may be delivered.

The pins are placed by hand or by any suitable mechanical means into the tube in chamber I3 with the tops of the pins placed adjacent the rod or ram I2 of the hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder then acts to push the pin longitudinally into chamber I4 and then returns to its initial position and another pin I9 is placed in the chamber I3. The ram again acts to force the second pin into the heating chamber Il and thereby forces the first pin into the chamber I5 where, having been heated in `chamber Il, it is also compressed by reason of thev4 reduction in the size of the tube I8 to form a slightly iiattened belly portion I 9a as seen in Fig. 5. The next pin, upon being placed in chamber I3, will be forced by the rod I2 into the chamber I4 and will push the two preceding pins ahead of it. The first pin is now in the chamber I6 which is not heated but where it remains in compressed shape, due to the restricted size of the tube I8, and then when the next pin is placed in the chamber I3 the first pin will be forced into the chamber I'I where it is cooled and then upon the next movement of the rod I2 against pin I9 in chamber I3 will be forced out the door of the cooling chamber.

It is then picked up and placed base downward in the die 25, which may be heated as by steam pipes 26 and which is provided with a well 21 of substantially the same contour as the base of the bowling pin I9, but of slightly smaller size, so as to receive such pin snugly therein. AAbove the die is a plunger 28 provided with a die member 28 having a well 30 of substantially the same shape and dimension as the top ISb of the bowling pin. A suitable source of power (not shown) is connected to and operates the plunger. This die gradually descends until the head of the pin is received in the well 29 and then continues to apply pressure downwardly whereby the base of the pin. due to such-pressure and the heat in the die 25, is compressed and hardened on the bottom and edge.

The well 21 in the die 25 is preferably provided with a projection 3I adapted to receive the usual opening 32 in the base of the pin which is formed there for the purpose of permitting the pin to be set on a bowling alley. by a mechanical means provided with a centering pin', such means be ing well known in the art.

The hydraulic cylinder II is adjusted so tha the rod I2 is reciprocated every thirty seconds which means that each pin remains in each chamber that length of time. While I have shown a receiving chamber, a heating chamber, a heating and compression chamber. a "setting chamber, and a cooling chamber, it is obvious that the device may readily, it desired, be provided with additional chambers for applying heat and pressure and that the period of time during which the pin remains in each chamber may be varied by adjustment of the hydraulic cylinder. It is usually not necessary to harden the base of the pin as much as the belly portion, a period of ilve seconds being sufdcient to harden the base the desired amount.

I claim as my invention:

'1. A device for hardening a bowling pin belly comprising an elongated cabinet provided, successively, with a heating chamber, a heating and pressure chamber, an unheated chamber and a cooling chamber, a tube extending through said chambers, said tube in said heating chamber having a diameter substantially the same as the bowling pin as originally shaped, said tube being tapered to a smaller diameter in the other chambers, and means for forcing a pin successively through said chambers.

2. A device for hardening a bowling pin belly comprising an elongated cabinet provided, successively, with a heating chamber, a heating and pressure chamber, an unheated chamber and a cooling chamber, a tube extending through said chambers, said tube in said heating chamber having a diameter substantially the same as the bowling pin as originally shaped and said tube being tapered to a smaller diameter in the successive chambers, and means including a ram for forcing a pin successively through said chambers.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein each of said chambers is approximately as long as said bowling pin HERMAN E. McKENZlE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 461,329 Du Bois Oct. 13, 1891 638,477 Scheid Dec. 5, 1899 1,068,775 Hyatt July 29, 1913 1,371,546 Bollmann Mar. 15, 1921 1,505,768 Dressler Aug. 19, 1924 1,542,576 Pfleumer June 16, 1925 1,821,037 Souder Sept. 1, 1931 1,952,664 Esselen Mar. 27, 1934 2,183,599 Welch Dec. 19, 1939 2,283,331 Lawton May 19, 1942 

